Access Points Virtual Program
Students Served
The Pasco eSchool Access Program is an asynchronous learning experience, which is made available to students with significant cognitive disabilities who require instruction in the Access Points standards.
Pasco eSchool Parental Choice Notice for Students with Disabilities
Pasco eSchool is an educational choice made available by the School Board for the many parents who would rather have their children educated through an online format, as opposed to being educated in a traditional brick-and-mortar school.
Given the fundamental nature of online education, the modality, methodology, and presentation of your child’s education through Pasco eSchool will differ significantly from the education available to them in a traditional brick-and-mortar setting. The information contained on this webpage is provided in order to help you understand some of those differences so that you can make an informed decision as to whether Pasco eSchool is appropriate for your child.
Both Federal and Florida law requires that Pasco County Schools offer students a “free and appropriate public education”, commonly referred to as FAPE. A main component of FAPE is that your child’s education is “appropriate” so as to afford them the opportunity to make appropriate progress in light of their circumstances. While Pasco County Schools wants to support your freedom of parental choice, we also want to make sure that your choice is an informed and knowledgeable one. As such, it is our duty to inform you that data exists, which indicates that virtual, online education is not appropriate for some students with disabilities due to their specialized needs.
To maximize your educational options and parental choice, while affording reasonable access to Pasco eSchool to diverse members of our educational population, we are happy to make the reasonable accommodations necessary so that children with disabilities may have the opportunity to participate in Pasco eSchool. Under the law, a reasonable accommodation is one that does not fundamentally alter the nature of Pasco eSchool, and which does not create an undue financial hardship for Pasco County Schools. For example, Pasco County Schools is not in a position to change the nature of the Pasco eSchool virtual experience in order to create an online replication of the brick-and-mortar schooling experience. Unfortunately, even with reasonable accommodations, Pasco eSchool is simply not an appropriate school of choice for some students. As such, it is important for us to collaborate and problem-solve in order to help inform you as to whether Pasco eSchool is an appropriate educational choice for your child should you be interested in this option.
For all students engaging in online education, parents are an integral part of their child’s education. And although each Pasco eSchool course is led by a certified teacher who provides regular online instruction, all virtually educated students need additional guidance and support from their parents. Parents are expected to assist their child by monitoring them daily, helping them navigate their education, ensuring their child is progressing on weekly basis and ensuring their child is gaining content mastery. In essence, Pasco eSchool is an educational format designed for independent students, who, with parental assistance, have the ability to successfully navigate their education without the additional assistance and services that are available in the brick-and-mortar setting. Again, Pasco eSchool is not meant to be, designed to be, or capable of being a replication of the education that is made available to students in the traditional brick-and-mortar educational setting.
For those parents of students with disabilities who are interested in Pasco eSchool, Pasco County Schools and Pasco eSchool will reasonably accommodate your child’s needs in an effort to afford your child access to online education. One such reasonable accommodation would be through the implementation of those provisions of your child’s IEP that can be applied in the virtual setting. Additionally, other reasonable accommodations may be considered. However, please be advised that due to the nature of virtual education, some provisions contained in your child’s IEP will not be able to be implemented by Pasco eSchool.
In order to review the appropriateness of Pasco eSchool for your child, we would need to have a meeting to discuss the reasonable accommodations available and to review your child’s IEP so that we may determine the extent that Pasco eSchool can implement the provisions contained in the IEP. During that review meeting the IEP team will determine what provisions of the IEP can be implemented and which provisions will not be capable of implementation in Pasco eSchool. Once those decisions have been made, you can make a final determination as to whether you still wish to elect to enroll your child in Pasco eSchool. If you elect to choose Pasco eSchool, then your child’s IEP will be amended to reflect the accommodations and services that will be available to them with Pasco eSchool. Furthermore, any additional reasonable accommodations to be afforded to your child that is not otherwise recorded in the Amended IEP will be documented at this meeting.
Program Description
Due to the nature of the program, and the needs of our students, the parent must commit to or designate someone to act as the learning guide with the student. The learning guide is an adult who works side-by-side to guide the student through their coursework since the teacher is not continuously providing direct instruction throughout the day.
An “asynchronous program” means that teachers and students are not engaged in continuous instruction in the online environment at the same time. This design provides flexibility in student work and scheduling. There will be daily virtual lessons on the MyLearning platform.
Students and families can expect regular online live lessons with the teachers, according to a published weekly schedule.
Student schedules will include core subject area classes for the appropriate grade level (mathematics, language arts, social studies, and science), as well as a limited number of elective courses to provide a variety of instructional supports and enriching opportunities.
Program Commitments
Students are expected to complete assigned work according to the pacing guide in every course, every week. Students will be marked absent if they do not attend scheduled class sessions or do not complete assignments.
Students will be required to complete assigned progress monitoring with the teacher to assess growth toward standards and IEP goals.
Parents must agree to participate in monthly calls with the teacher to discuss their child’s progress and needs.
To the extent that you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the information contained on this webpage, please feel free to contact Erin Senior, Assistant Principal.
(813) 346-1900
